Madrid: Real Madrid couldn’t put Barcelona away when it had the chance, and ended up being dealt a hard blow by its biggest rival.
In the first of two consecutive games between the Spanish powerhouses at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Barcelona weathered a dominant first half by Madrid and then scored three times after the break for a 3-0 win Wednesday and a spot in the Copa del Rey final for a sixth straight season.
Luis Suarez scored twice as Barcelona advanced 4-1 on aggregate after being held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the semifinals at Camp Nou three weeks ago.
The Catalan club also benefited from an own goal by Madrid defender Raphael Varane.
It was the second of three matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona in less than a month. The rivals will also play each other Saturday in the Spanish league, with Barcelona nine points in front of Madrid in the standings.
The hosts created most of the scoring chances, including a couple of clear ones for young Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior. He failed to get a shot off in a one-on-one situation, then missed over the crossbar from close range.
Barca struck after halftime, with Suarez firing a low shot past goalkeeper Keylor Navas after a cross by Ousmane Dembele, who made a run behind the Madrid defenders following a through ball by Jordi Alba on the left flank.
The second goal came less than 10 minutes later, when Varane tried to intercept Dembele’s cross for Suarez and ended up finding his own net.
It didn’t take long for Suarez to add another with a Panenka-style penalty in the 73rd after he was fouled by midfielder Casemiro inside the area.
Gareth Bale, who earlier Wednesday escaped punishment for a gesture toward fans after scoring in a league match against Atletico Madrid, came off the bench to replace Lucas Vazquez with Madrid down by a goal, but the Wales forward wasn’t able to help much.
AP
